“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?" -Khalil Gibran.

After going through pain and suffering, you are never the same. Pain changes you. Suffering creates in you a new creature. A deeply traumatic experience will serve as a turning point in your life because after hitting rock bottom, there is nowhere else to go but up. Pain won’t last forever and the darkness will, at some point, be subjected to the Light. So even though you may be going through an intensely dark and painful time, don’t give up! Trust that it has the potential to spark the incredible Light that lies within you.

You can take your unfortunate circumstances and turn them around for the greater good, using them to fuel a higher state of consciousness within yourself and even within others. Let’s say you were in an abusive relationship for many years and you are deeply scarred emotionally, mentally, spiritually and maybe even physically. There is no doubt that this constitutes as trauma; painful, sorrowful, dark and ugly trauma, which many people stay in because they do not realize that they are worth more than that. You actually may believe that this is all you are worth and that maybe you really are not worthy of someone else’s Love or even your own. But you do not have to remain this way…you can overcome it and instead, become strong and wise, loving and compassionate. This pain could spark the Light of Love within you and cause you to uproot yourself from the painful realm of abuse and start living a life of purpose and well-being. You could, in fact, inspire other people who are in the same dark place that you chose to leave behind. What you went through does not have to be in vain. You could light the way for others to follow. The body, mind and spirit that were subjected to abuse, neglect and pain is also the same body, mind and spirit that holds the Light of Love within. By choosing to let go of the sorrow and feelings of unworthiness, you can discover the infinite Love, wisdom and immeasurable worthiness that have always been yours. Your scars are reminders of how far you have come and all of the lessons you have learned along the way. It’s true that after a traumatic experience there is great work to be done in order to restore harmony, peace and happiness within.

To work through all of the darkness, it is essential to get in touch with YOURSELF. Meditate. Contemplate. Write. Cry. Laugh. Go for a walk. Volunteer. Sing. Dance. Whatever! But you must do something to find YOU and tap into the everlasting spring of Love, knowledge, passion and wisdom within you and realize that you are not your pain! You are not what has happened to you! You are what you make of yourself! Do not let your pain make you into someone that you are not. Let it serve as a springboard for you to bounce back into the life that you choose to create!